If the boy can't go to the dirt....

bring the dirt to the boy! Too chilly to play outside, so brought the outside in.

More than you wanted to know:

I got "tagged" by Rebecca! Normally I'm not great at answering these things but, in order not to be shunned by the blogging community, here goes....

Four jobs I have had in my life:

- Recruiting & admissions for Eureka College

- Serving at Killer Shrimp in San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter --my FAVORITE!

- Working with intensive support kids in a middle school

- Assisting the Associate Pastor at our church

Four movies I could watch over and over: I have no clue. I asked Scott if he knew what movies I should list, and he said "Battlestar Galactica." Whatever!

Four places I have lived: Illinois, Arkansas, California, New Mexico

Four shows that I watch: The computer takes up all my TV time

Four places I have been:

- in the tidy front room of a little home in Fengyuan meeting my baby boy

- on the big rocks of Coronado Island beach trying to figure out what I was going to do with my life

- at the front of the tiny Horizon Park Chapel sanctuary giving my life to Christ

- on a sunny beach in Kona, Hawaii marrying the love of my life

Four people who email me regularly: Rebecca, my husband, West Elm, my grandma

Four of my favorite foods:

- Raw cookie dough

- Monical's Pizza

- The Range's Chicken Enchiladas

- Pappadeaux's Greek Salad

Four places I would rather be right now:

- Visiting my mom

- On a warm, sunny beach

- Hangin' out in San Diego (Fashion Valley, Balboa Park, Point Loma tidepools)

- In my husband's arms

Four folks I think will respond: ? Battlestar Galactica!

Four things I'm looking forward to in the next 12 months:

- Seeing God's plans for my life and my family

- Watching Matthew grow

- Celebrating my 5th wedding anniversary

- Watching my mom become a cancer "SURVIVOR!"

Four goals for the New Year:

- Become better at talking (& listening!) to God all day long rather than just right before bed!

- Learn to make a grocery list and then remember to take it with me to the store
- Stop being so self-absorbed

- Be faithful to keep up my prayer blog for America

Four gifts I got for Christmas: a new baby, a new house, a handmade card from my husband, and a Savior

Four places I want to visit:

- someplace very dark and very clear at night so I can see millions of stars in the sky

- an orphanage

- the home of a friend of mine from Mexico...with whom I've lost touch

- the beach (of course) to watch Matthew have fun in the sand!

Four things you did not know about me:

- I once cut my lip while shaving my armpits.

- I have a MA in Education with a concentration in teaching English as a second language, and I have never used it professionally...although I am still paying on the student loan!

- I don't like when people/things are lonely...I even put my silverware into the dishwasher in pairs.

- When I was young I had a crush on Rick Springfield and would daydream about going to a fancy restaurant with him.

Four things I wish I could be better at:

- Praying

- Time management

- Filing paperwork/receipts/etc. rather than throwing it in drawers

- Cooking

Four things I can make without a recipe:

- Grilled cheese sandwich

- Cap'n Crunch Cereal

- Papa Murphy's Take Home Pizza

- Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls

Four musicians that I really like:

- Robbie Seay Band

- The Fray

- Jack Johnson

- Nick Crespo (our church's worship leader)

I am tagging Reed's daddy, Cormac's mama, Andy's mama, and Helena's mama.

Starting early

You have seen video of Matthew drying my kitchen floor. And photos of him washing the kitchen table. Well, the other day we were in his room and, after taking off his socks, I told him to take them to the laundry room. He completely understood and started crawling off...socks in hand...toward the laundry room. He got a little distracted by a cool piece of cardboard on the way, but he eventually made it! Mission accomplished. Guess I better start paying him an allowance!

Here is a video from Matthew's birthday. If you are looking for fast-paced excitement, I'm telling you now...don't push "play!" I left it unedited for the grandparents...and for Cam, a faithful blog follower!!!

New Prayers for America

New intercessions for week 6 are listed at my new site

Attack of the Mama Mush-Brain

I'm supposed to be working on tax stuff right now. But instead I have this thought on my mind: If you are an absolute full time stay-at-home mama, I think that you can fall prey to "mama mush-brain"... a disease which seems to attack and conquer your noggin with Mach 3 speed. I feel like my brain has been utterly destroyed...or has liquified and seeped out my ears...or maybe something even worse. This "mama mush-brain" seems to have affected me in the following areas:

1. Multi-tasking skills - I used to have excellent MTS...in fact, one night when working in a restaurant in San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter, I waited on 17 tables in less than an hour and a half by myself. No hostess. No busser. No other waitstaff. Just me, two kitchen staff, and a serious rush of customers! NOW, however, I cannot even boil Matthew's frozen vegetables and do ANYTHING else at the same time or I almost burn the house down. TWICE I have ruined the veggies and the pots they were in! I'm running out of cookware!

2. Organizational skills - When working in college admissions, I used to plan weekend-long scholarship competitions for 60+ students...from the big details to the small. Now I can't even throw a baby birthday party without even forgetting to invite dear friends!!!! Or making sure I had the presents purchased BEFORE the party!

3. Memorization skills - I used to be a memory machine...but now my brain is like a sieve. Tonight I walked out of the grocery store and didn't know where I parked. In fact, I couldn't even remember driving to the store. Lots of people do that, I know. SO what about this? I had to ask my sister if we sang "Happy Birthday" to Matthew at his party!!!!????!!!

4. Conversational skills - Let's just say that the conversation I initiated with Scott when he came home Friday night wasn't about politics...or doctrine...or even parenting. It was "Did you put a cricket in the toilet?"

I feel like I need to exercise my brain with some sudoku...or an algebra class...or I guess some tax stuff that is staring me in the face right now...UGH, I'm off to sort through receipts.....

Photos from San Diego just because they make me happy.....

Photo of a dog that I don't know...but that is stylin' nonetheless

New post & photos

New post & photos -- Story Time -- at Matthew's site.

Houston, we have a...

TOOTH! Bottom right popped out today with the left one close behind! No photos yet!